Mental midget weighs in on census fiasco

"Ask Canadians to fill out a long census form for the good of the country and they'll rush to grab their blue or black ballpoint pens — at least that's how Finance Minister Jim Flaherty sees it." (Globe and Mail)

Meanwhile we also learn from the Globe and Mail that:

"Prime Minister Stephen Harper decided at the end of December to scrap the mandatory long-form census despite being told by Statistics Canada officials that important data would likely be lost or impaired as a result."

The census issue is about the government’s integrity. Full stop.

Quite simply, Stephen Harper’s census crisis is about the integrity of his and (unfortunately) our government. This issue takes place at crossroads where science intersects with political pandering, and the place where hard choices about upholding or abandoning the integrity of government have to be made. These are the crossroads where real leadership is tested, and where Harper comes up short every time. Harper’s handling of the census issue is no different than Harper’s abysmal reneging of his solemn income trust promise that cost Canadians dearly. These are not the acts of an intelligent, educated government, with the larger interests of all Canadians in mind but rather the acts of a backward, regressive government that will do anything to appease a vocal subset of the population, even if it is to the detriment of all others.

The idea that justification for the canceling the mandatory long form census comes from the thousand or so emails of opposition that Maxine Bernier received a few years back only UNDERSCORES how bereft this government is of an understanding of “randomness” when testing the views of those it professes to govern. Receiving a thousand emails is NOT representative of the views of a population of 33 million Canadians in the same way that making the long form census optional is not statistically valid in terms of being representative of the population at large. Such an ad hoc approach to government is completely lacking in integrity and only serves to compromise our democracy in a myriad of ways. This is nothing but another example of bad science meets bad government, where the compliant and easily manipulated are in charge. People like Maxine Bernier, Tony Clement. Stephen Harper, who are completely lacking in backbone and integrity and will bend at the slightest winds of opposition and/or lobbying to appease their base, regardless of the cost to others or what it means to the integrity of our government.

We witnessed the very same thing in the case of Harper’s total reneging of his income trust promise, in which a special interest group was appeased to the detriment of all Canadians through the government’s use of completely false and defamatory arguments that were concocted by unethical civil servants like Mark Carney who live by Harper’s mantra of “it doesn’t have to be true, it just has to sound plausible”.

When faced with an issue of integrity, Mark Carney became the willing foot soldier of the Harper government, whereas the Head of Stats Canada had the integrity to resign. Such are the perverse rewards of a government completely lacking in integrity: those also lacking in integrity get promoted (in the case of Mark Carney to the Governor of the Bank of Canada), whereas those who possess integrity are out of a job?

In the case of Harper’s income trust betrayal, we have the Globe and Mail to thank for “outing” the special interest group that Harper, Flaherty and Carney were so intent on appeasing and willing to compromise the government’s integrity to do it, as follows (The Income Trust Crackdown: The Inside Story, Globe and Mail November 2, 2006):

High-profile directors and CEOs, meanwhile, had approached Mr. Flaherty personally to express their concerns: Many felt they were being pressed into trusts because of their duty to maximize shareholder value, despite their misgivings about the structure. Paul Desmarais Jr., the well-connected chairman of Power Corp. of Canada, even railed against trusts in a conversation with Prime Minister Stephen Harper during a trip to Mexico,

Canadians have been living with a snake oil salesman for four years

The Hamilton Spectator
(Jul 19, 2010)

Re: Editorial cartoon (July 13)

It was rich comparing Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff's tour with old-time hucksters.

Over the last four and half years, the people of Canada have been given promises and assurances by the current Prime Minister before each election.

January 2006 -- "Vote for me ... I won't tax income trusts." Within eight months of being sworn in, the Conservative government reversed its course and taxed income trusts.

September 2008 -- "Vote for me ... the only way there will be a deficit is if a Liberal government is elected." Within two months of being sworn in, the Conservatives were predicting a deficit.

"Vote for me ... if you want a transparent and accountable government." Twice, the Prime Minister has prorogued parliament and avoided answering to the majority demand of the House of Commons to provide information on Afghanistan. Two months after an "agreement" was made between all parties, not a single credible document has been handed over.

I agree we should be wary of hucksters. We have been living with a snake oil salesman for the last four years.

Nick Houston
Dundas

Is Harper also planning on making jury duty optional?

Or hey, how about filing tax returns?

Both of these state mandated activities are presently mandatory and should obviously be an affront to Harper's new found libertarianism, no different than Harper's opposition to asking 20% of Canadians to complete a long form census every decade?

How representative of society would juries be if they weren't selected from a broad cross section of Canadians? What bias would be introduced if members of juries were only comprised of Canadians who opted to participate? The same can be asked about the census. What bias will be introduced if the Canadian census was only comprised of Canadians who opted to participate?

Answer: Ottawa’s census move: “gobsmacking jackassery”

When is a consensus, not a consensus?

When it's a CON census

Don Drummond's dire prediction comes true: Flaherty contributes to Canada's "welfare loss".

The TD Bank’s submission to Ralph Goodale in the fall of 2005 arguing against the double taxation of income trusts contained the following warning: “A welfare loss would also be inflicted on Canadians if the pension funds substituted offshore holdings for Canadian income trusts.”

Today’s reality:

Canada's pension funds on overseas asset buying spree
By STEFANIA MORETTI, QMI Agency
July 15, 2010

Canadian pension funds are crisscrossing the globe with cash in hand in search of assets for revenue to support this country’s aging population.

One place they’re looking is foreign infrastructure assets, according to the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s senior vice president of private investments Andre Bourbonnais.

Infrastructure assets - such as electricity generation, water distribution and airports - are easy to operate and maintain, generate predictable cash flows, offer protection against inflation and can be owned for a very long time, Bourbonnais told QMI Agency Thursday.

“There’s not a lot of complexity in operating a toll road for instance,” he said.

Late Wednesday, the CPPIB revived its bid for Australian toll road operator Intoll Group with a $3.5-billion offer. The Sydney-based company also owns a minority stake in Toronto’s 407 electronic toll highway.

In May, the CPPIB snapped up a minority share in two prime Manhattan buildings for $663 million.

And last year it was part of the largest leveraged buyout of 2009 — the $4-billion acquisition of IMS Health Inc, a prescription drug sales data provider.

The Ontario Teachers Pension Plan has also been on a foreign buying spree after recently picking up U.K. state lottery Camelot for $536 million.

The teachers' fund has also tried to up its share of Australian toll road companies Intoll and Transurban in recent months.

And there have been reports the teachers, along with Ontario MunicipalEmployees Retirement System, could be involved in a multi-billion dollar bid for a U.K. high-speed rail franchise.

The CPPIB launched its aggressive infrastructure investment plan roughly five years ago.

“We’ve been looking globally at infrastructure assets,” Bourbonnais said, adding policy conditions in Australia and the U.K. are quite favourable right now.

Bourbonnais said the fund will likely pursue other deals with similar characteristics as Intoll.

“The predictability of the return and long-term ownership of those assets fit well with our mandate,” Bourbonnais said.

The CPPIB has assets totalling $127.6 billion after funds returned to pre-recession levels earlier this year.

Today, the CPPIB receives more contributions from working Canadians than it pays out in benefits. But that is expected to reverse by 2021, when Canada’s workforce is expected to shrink to new lows and the elderly population explodes.

In the 1990s, the CPPIB began to diversify its holdings, moving into equities, public properties then private spaces. Before then, the fund only invested in government bonds.

Today, the CPPIB generally operates with the rationale that the right mix of private assets can perform better than public ones in the long run.

Reverse takeover of Bank of Canada by Goldman Sachs

Don’t kid yourself. Mark Carney’s policy of killing income trusts (while in the Department of Finance) was taken directly from the play book of Goldman Sachs and the wishes of Goldman’s clientele.

Bank of Canada taps Goldman Sachs for Carney advisor

Hodgson to be senior representative for financial markets at the BoC’s Toronto office

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

By James Langton


The CEO of Goldman Sachs Canada, Timothy Hodgson, has been appointed a special advisor to Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, the central bank announced Tuesday.

Hodgson will serve for an 18-month term, beginning September 1, with a particular focus on developing and implementing reforms to enhance the resilience of repo and over-the-counter derivatives markets, and increasing the capital adequacy of financial institutions.

He will become senior representative for financial markets in the BoC’s Toronto office, leading a team that is responsible for maintaining the central ank’s relationship with the financial community, and contributing to its analysis of financial markets, institutions, products and regulations. He will also serve as a member of the BoC’s Monetary Policy Review and Financial System Review committees.

“Tim Hodgson is one of Canada's top investment bankers. He is widely recognized for his exceptional transaction skills and understanding of how markets work. These skills will be invaluable as the Bank works with its partners to design and implement vital reforms,” said Carney, who also worked at Goldman before entering public life.

Born in Winnipeg, Hodgson received his MBA from Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario in 1988 and a B.Com. (Hons) from the University of Manitoba in 1983. Prior to his appointment as CEO of Goldman Sachs Canada in 2005, he held a range of senior positions with Goldman Sachs in its telecom, media and technology group in both New York and California, and in the investment banking services group, covering clients in Canada. Before joining Goldman Sachs in 1990, he worked at Salomon Brothers Inc, Price Waterhouse & Company, and Merrill Lynch Canada Inc.

http://www.bank-banque-canada.ca/en/press/2010/pr290610_adviser.html